Horizon builds oil recovery barge in nine days

Build a barge from start to finish in nine days ... impossible?

Not for Horizon Shipbuilding, Inc. in Bayou La Batre, Alabama.

"Necessity is the mother of invention," said Ben Forrest, Horizon's Project Manager. "The Deepwater Horizon oil spill created that necessity. These barges are needed and they're needed now. Our guys really stepped up and made it happen. I'm proud to work with such competent and dedicated American shipbuilders."

Horizon Shipbuilding, Inc. is under contract to deliver ten 45 ft x 12 ft x 7 ft barges in thirty days.The barges are double hulled and have a storage capacity of 10,000 gallons in four separate tanks. They will be used for recovery of oil in coastal and inland areas.

Horizon reports that it is on schedule to meet or beat the delivery requirements, delivering a barge every two or three days.

It says its success is thanks to its workforce, which it calls "the Horizon Supercrew."

Horizon's craftsmen, under the leadership of Roger Oliver, Production Superintendent and Ty Gunter, Assistant Production Superintendent, met the challenge with a resolve that allowed them to work through production issues and stay on schedule even though the barge design was new and had never been built before.

Working night and day, weekday and weekend, through the July 4th holiday, and in very hot and humid conditions, the crew was steadfast in its determination to meet the production deadline. On July 10, 2010 the first oil recovery barge was completed as scheduled.